“A West Side Baptist church — once documented by photographer Gordon Parks and listed on the National Register of Historic Places — has received a $500,000 grant to help fix up the 125-year-old building.
“The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund announced Tuesday that it had awarded the funds to the architecturally significant Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church, 2151 W. Washington Blvd.
“The funds will help the congregation repair aged terra cotta pieces and glazed brick on the building’s south facade. Other repairs include removing and rebuilding portions of the structure’s exterior masonry and stopping water from leaking into the edifice, according to the grant.
“Though a national effort, the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has contributed funds to help a number of historic Chicago sites, including the Muddy Waters MOJO Museum, 4339 S. Lake Park Ave., and First Church of Deliverance, 4315 S. Wabash Ave.
“‘We’re thrilled to support so many important projects in Chicago,’ Brent Leggs, executive director of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, said. ‘We believe deeply that to understand a national story, we [must] uplift the cultural assets across the Chicago landscape, including the historically Black churches.’
“Metropolitan received one of 33 grants — totaling $8.5 million — made to historic Black churches across the country under the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund.
“Designed by architect Hugh M.G. Garden and built in 1901 as the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, Metropolitan is as beautiful as it is unusual. The building is clad in light blue glazed brick — a rare color choice for a house of worship.
“And with its classical proportions, but modern, almost proto-Art Deco detailing, the church somehow managed to be classic and contemporary for its time.
“The Metropolitan Missionary Baptist congregation bought the building in 1947. And in 1953, the church caught the attention of Life magazine and its famed photographer Gordon Parks.” (Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 2/24/26)